QuicKutz club 5/16/09

Welcome to yet another issue of QuicKutz club page for your Year of Ideas album.

After much pleading and me finally giving in, we are going to create the title page for the album this month. Since this has to fit "your" album, not mine, you will need to provide:

1 yd of ribbon
3 double-sided designer papers (Cloud 9 Design Cinnamon Stick shown)
glue dots
adhesive runner and/or wide Cheetah
font of your choice - Flirt pictured
butterfly die of choice to fit a 2 1/4 x 2 1/2" piece
scallop border die
Your favorite embossing die
your favorite edging punch or decorative edge scissors
Liquid Pearls to coordinate with your papers (I'll bring silver)
Sharp scissors
Paper Trimmer
Pen for lettering and edging letters
1/4" corner rounder
black ink pad


DML will provide:
white envelope
1 sheet solid cardstock
Die cut white leaves (you can change the color with your Distress Ink Pads)
For the Record ledger sheet
Stapler
2 1/4" x 2 1/2" pearl metal
sanding block
Pattern for the page

I'll show you some fun tricks for the new clear elasticized ribbon in the store right now. I'll also show you how to work with the metal sheets in conjunction with your cutting dies and your embossing dies.

And Dallas has a very special "special" for us on Saturday... but you must be there in person.

Be Creative!

Happy Mother's Day

I DREAM OF MY GRANDMOTHER AND GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
by Maria Mazziotti Gillan


I imagine them walking down rocky paths
toward me, strong, Italian women returning
at dusk from fields where they worked all day
on farms built like steps up the sides
of steep mountains, graceful women carrying water
in terra cotta jugs on their heads.
What I know of these women, whom I never met,
I know from my mother, a few pictures
of my grandmother, standing at the doorway
of the fieldstone house in Santo Mauro,
the stories my mother told of them,
but I know them most of all from watching
my mother, her strong arms lifting sheets
out of the cold water in the wringer washer,
or from the way she stepped back,
wiping her hands on her homemade floursack apron,
and admired her jars of canned peaches
that glowed like amber in the dim cellar light.
I see those women in my mother
as she worked, grinning and happy,
in her garden that spilled its bounty into her arms.
She gave away baskets of peppers,
lettuce, eggplant, gave away bowls of pasts,
meatballs, zeppoli, loaves of homemade bread.
"It was a miracle," she said.
"The more I gave away, the more I had to give."
Now I see her in my daughter,
the same unending energy,
that quick mind,
that hand, open and extended to the world.
When I watch my daughter clean the kitchen counter,
watch her turn, laughing,
I remember my mother as she lay dying,
how she said of my daughter, "that Jennifer,
she's all the treasure you'll ever need."
I turn now, as my daughter turns,
and see my mother walking toward us
down crooked mountain paths,
behind her, all those women
dressed in black



The little girl on the far right is my grandmother with her family. The lady in the chair is the great-grandmother I never got to meet.

The second picture is of my grandmother for her Confirmation.

The dancer is my mother. Way before she met my father and had me.

This last picture is at my godmother's wedding. She is also my mother's cousin as her mother and my grandmother were sister. The gentleman on the very far right is my grandfather.

Oh, and my relatives are very much German instead of being Italian, but I do still think of the women who came before me.


Happy Mother's Day to all....

Repurposing -

Sorry for the bad picture... But it's all I could find on the web. This is a magazine cover from Creative Machine Embroidery Magazine, Winter 2002.

Moving along. Repurposing. To use or convert for use in another format or product: repurposed the book as a compact disk. (from Answers.com) When you have as many samples as I do, it's impossible to use them for their intended purpose. The purpose of the chair covers was for a magazine article. I could make just one. And with the amount of time spent embroidering the floral wreath, in all honesty, I was only going to make one.

So I took this lovely silk fabric chair cover apart. Not really stitch by stitch, but you know scissors will cut about anything. The only item with which I was careful, was the black lace. I couldn't get anymore.

We have a dresser bench that was my husband's grandmother's. And it had pretty horrid fabric on it. So I decided it needed some spiffy-ing up. I did have to sew a bit of fabric to each end to make the chair back fit the bench.
Tip: Don't add the fabric in a straight line, add a curved piece on each end and then it looks like it was on purpose.
I adhered the lace to the top of the bench seat frame with a few discreetly placed staples.

Instead of a sample that would be stashed away in a box, now I can enjoy both the embroidered wreath and the bench a bit more. See what you have hidden away in a drawer and give it some new life.

Be Creative!

Someone has a birthday....

Someone has a birthday this weekend, Sunday to be exact. Tomorrow this little package will be on it's way. From Texas eastward ... to a state synonymous with heirloom and lace.

I'd tell what was inside, but that would ruin the surprise. I will tell that I found it in an antique store. And that as pretty as it is, it pales in comparison to the beauty of it's new owner.

The box in which I'm putting this is heavy, but the little box inside is not. It's being cushioned by some wonderful wool fabric, some lace and a few other goodies that were unearthed in the move.

Enjoy and Be Creative...

Okay so my old brain is showing it's age.. this special person's birthday is this Friday... and she guessed anyway! Now that is what good friends are all about.

More things that bring a smile.

Fuchsias. They come in many color combinations. This is my favorite color combo. My grandmother always had planter boxes of these along the stairs that went to her basement. One of my memories of my grandmother was going to the market to pick up the young plants and bring them home. She didn't drive, so it entailed a bus ride into town to the market square and walking and walking and walking. And then having to carry the purchases home. I remember her wanting to plant the red/purple combo in all planter boxes. But when I told her that these were my favorites, she planted each planter box half and half. The next year and every year after that, when we would visit, the planter boxes were planted half and half. I knew right then and there how much she loved me.


Columbine. The very first time I encountered Columbine was at our cabin in New Mexico. We were riding our 4 wheelers up a trail and we came across a break in the thicket seeing these growing in the wild.

As I was buying yet more plants the other evening and my dear husband was rolling his eyes and trying to be patient I came across this plant. To buy or not to buy. In my heart I know that the climate is too warm here for this plant to thrive. Where to plant it? Is this just another foolish purchase? Thought of all the reasons why I should leave it at the store. But my sweet husband said get it, you love it. So now when I look out the great expanse of kitchen window, into a little wooded area, there is this beautiful face looking up at me. He loves me.





One of my hidden reasons for driving to Santa Fe was to go to Jackalope's to shop for pots. They have such a wonderful assortment and the prices are extremely reasonable.

So after much negotiating with sweet husband, we settled on the ones with the sun. They are happy and large but not too big, and I got a pair. Just like shoes, most things are just better in pairs! Next time we go, I'll bring home a couple more.
These make me smile because sweet husband didn't gripe about driving to Santa Fe to buy pots, because he didn't gripe about schlepping them home, because he didn't gripe when we had to buy soil and plants to fill them, and because he just smiles when he looks at them.

Plants: geraniums, yellow verbena, a variegated Vinca, and some gray silver fuzzy stuff. Obviously a seasoned gardener, I'm not. I figure those might get big and be replaced...



Sweet husband thinks I take walls too seriously. Especially blank ones. But he didn't even bat an eye when I brought this wire outdoor art home and his skill was need to hang this - outdoors and on a brick wall. He rolled is eyes only once but knew that I would be happy if he just did it. You think being married just short of 35 years doesn't have it's benefits? Come talk to me.








Asparagus fern in an antique watering can. I wonder if this will thrive inside over winter? I love to plant in unusual containers.

Plants outside are wonderful! Turn on the hose, they all get watered. Only drawback is that in a semi arid area such as the High Plains with a bit of daily wind (but no pollution), you have to water more frequently because they dry out sooo quickly.

Quick tip: instead of filling up a container with all soil... try using some non biodegradable packing peanuts to fill the bottom. Not only will the container be lighter, but they will also provide more drainage.






Begonias. I don't know why I love Begonias. Is it the waxy leaves? The little flowers? Who cares, they make me happy.

Recipe for success with a strawberry pot: 1" plastic pipe the height of the strawberry pot. Cap off one end (this end goes in the bottom of the pot). Drill offsetting holes all around the pipe up to about 3" short of the top. Plant with the pipe centered in the pot. Make sure the top of the pipe is above the soil line. Water the pipe! Keeps the soil moist all the way to the bottom of the pot!

It was National Scrapbook Day today. Did I buy anything? yes... Surely I might have something to show tomorrow. Although I really have a sewing project in mind. We'll see in which toy box I play tomorrow. Stay tuned and....

Be Creative!

Framed in metal

I just can't get enough of Ten Seconds Studio metal, embossing plates and tools. This past weekend, I finally managed to eek out a bit of time to create a frame covered in a sheet of metal. The biggest decision was which color of metal to use. I chose the brown because it blends in with most surroundings and since I didn't have a picture in mind, I played it safe.

A few tips:

• Use a temporary spray adhesive on the back of the sheet metal before you place it on the embossing plate. This keeps it from slipping during the embossing process.
• Trace out the frame and the picture opening before you begin.
• Place the metal colored side up on the embossing plate.
• Sand while the metal is still in place on the embossing plate.
• Paint the wooden craft frame first and let dry.
• Use the orange double sided sticky tape to adhere the metal to the frame.
• Don't cut the metal to the exact size of the top. Leave about 1/8" extra to bend to the sides of the frame for a neater finish.
• Leave enough metal in the picture opening to fold the metal back creating a nicely finished edge next to the picture.

Be Creative!

a bit of a surprise...

I got a bit of a surprise today that I will share with you. I was checking out some blogs today and checked in on the Berninausa blog (www.berninausablog.com). Had to enlarge the picture. Couldn't see to clearly, but things looked familiar.

This past weekend was the International Quilt Festival in Rosemont. Rosemont is situated right by Chicago's O'Hare airport. Bernina educators and staff have been posting a few pictures all week.

Yesterday's picture held some very familiar items. On the far left background of the booth is a picture of a quilt I created in 2002. Bernina used it in advertising all over the world to introduce the world's first sewing machine that was run on a Microsoft platform and had internet connection to the Bernina portal on the world wide web. I can remember how awesome that was! Seeing them still using a picture of the quilt warmed my heart. I keep meaning to have this piece framed, but it so doesn't fit into my house!

And then I saw another poster hanging on the left side of the picture. It was Raleigh. I created him for an advertising piece in 2006. This one was a bit trickier to produce, it needed to highlight features of a new machine that had an attachment that would keep the user's stitches even and regular while they were free-motion quilting. The attachment was called a BSR (Bernina stitch regulator). However as with all Bernina adds, they have to show other stitching, buttonholes and embroidery. And this one had to be a peacock! I actually had a lot of fun creating this piece.

So I leave you with a couple of other pieces with which you might be familiar, or have seen along your travels... Those 10 years were an experience of a lifetime. Sewing on the best is something that I'll never forget.